Eduardo was born with a mitochondrial disease, a genetic condition that occurs when your cells’ mitochondria—the energy factory of your cells—don’t produce enough power for your body to function properly. The effects of mitochondrial diseases are different depending on the person and which organs are affected, though the usual symptoms are developmental delays and muscle weakness, both of which plague the 13-year-old from Round Rock, Texas.

Despite the realities of the disease, Labastida wants Eduardo to live as normal a life as possible. And one way they do that, is on the bike.

Labastida’s three other children, now ages 23 to 27, all enjoyed riding bikes when they were younger. One of Eduardo’s brothers actually learned how to bike when he was three-and-a-half-years-old, and had the training wheels off before he was four.

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Thinking about that was what gave her the answer for Eduardo: She needed to get him a bike.

There would be a host of benefits to it, she thought. For one, Eduardo struggles with his balance. Even going down the stairs, he must go slow and place two feet on each step the entire way down. To get his brain used to the idea of balance, the bike would help.

“I thought a bike could be a good way to help him with his coordination and help create some balance for his body,” Labastida said. It would also help strengthen his arms, legs, and even his brain, too, she believed.

Finding a bike was taxing. Labastida was looking for one for those with special needs, especially one with fatter wheels to help him balance. However, those kinds of bikes were too expensive for the family—they live off the income of Labastida’s husband, Fernando (Labastida has been a stay-at-home mom since Eduardo was born).

“I went to websites and they were just very, very, expensive, and I just thought that we could never afford a bike like that,” Labastida says. “It would be wonderful if some companies had an emphasis on helping parents with special needs to have the opportunity to get affordable bikes for their kids with special needs.”

So they needed to find a mainstream bike—and they had to make sure it was one that Eduardo could get on and off easily, and also one that could fit in the trunk of a car, so the family can travel together to the park and ride. They eventually chose a Schwinn folding bike.

Equipped with training wheels, Eduardo set out, though he was only able to go for a short time. His muscles weren’t strong enough to handle many physical activities, including riding long distances. So he could only ride about five times around the block at most in their suburban neighborhood.

Eduardo (right) takes a ride around the neighborhood with his dad, Fernando (left).

Yamilett Labastida

Still Eduardo started to progress on his rides. But big fear still remained—he was afraid of falling, especially if the training wheels were to come off. So Labastida looked into what she could do to make him feel more secure.

A local special needs camp, iCan Bike, had the answer. Edaurdo’s bike was furnished with a handle for his mom. While it sounds simple, it played a very important role: Labastida could hold onto it to help Eduardo learn balance and prevent him from falling.

Eventually, the training wheels came off.

The sweltering Texas summer and rainy fall left the family fewer opportunities than they would have liked to get Eduardo on the bike, but even so, Labastida says she still has seen more progress.

“I have noticed he is actually starting to have more control, even with the steering wheel like when he has to turn around,” Labastida says. “Little by little, he gets more balance on the bike.”

The opportunity to ride is exactly what Labastida is trying to give Eduardo. An opportunity to just live the life of a normal kid and also give him a greater chance for independence for even just the smaller tasks of life, like enough balance to go down the stairs.

“As parents, we want him to feel and have experiences like a real kid and one of those things is to learn how to ride a bike,” Labastida says. “Give them the opportunity and they can do everything like a normal kid would do.”

For Christmas, Labastida may even get Eduardo a stationary bike. It won’t help with the balance training, but it will help strengthen his muscles, something he’s not able to work on much otherwise.

Eduardo will return outside for rides when the temperatures go up later next year. Labastida doesn’t know what the future holds for Eduardo, but she knows he’ll keep riding, even when he says he hates it. That’s just part of the experience, or, as Labastida puts it, just part of being a normal kid.

Andrew DawsonGear & News EditorDrew covers a variety of subjects for Runner’s World and Bicycling, and he specializes in writing and editing human interest pieces while also covering health, wellness, gear, and fitness for the brand.

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